Łódź ghetto scrip, 50 pfennig note, given to a survivor searching for relatives
Extent and Medium
overall: Height: 2.250 inches (5.715 cm) | Width: 3.370 inches (8.56 cm)
Creator(s)
- Jack Goldman (Subject)
Biographical History
Jack Goldman was in the Lublin and Warsaw ghettos in Poland during the Holocaust. In 1945, he traveled to Łódź, looking for loved ones, but did not find any who had survived. He later settled in the United States.
Archival History
The scrip was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2005 by Jack Goldman.
Acquisition
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Jack Goldman
Scope and Content
Scrip with a receipt value of 50 cents issued in 1940 in the Jewish ghetto in Łódź, Poland, renamed Litzmannstadt by the Germans following their occupation of Poland in September 1939. The scrip was given to Jack Goldman by a survivor of the ghetto in 1945. Goldman was himself a survivor of the Lublin and Warsaw ghettos. He was in Łódź in 1945 looking for loved ones, but did not find any who had survived. When the Germans transferred Jews to the Łódź ghetto, they confiscated all currency in exchange for scrip that could be spent only inside the ghetto. The scrip was designed by the Judenrat [Jewish Council] of the Łódź ghetto. The ghetto was liquidated by the Germans in August 1944.
Conditions Governing Access
No restrictions on access
Conditions Governing Reproduction
No restrictions on use
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements
Rectangular paper scrip. Front has design of a 7-branched candelabrum, or menorah, at the center, the numerical denomination 50 in lower left and upper right corners, and 6-pointed stars, or Magen David, in upper left and lower right corners; background is light purple, with a lattice design of 6-pointed stars. There is German text in black ink across and below the menorah. The reverse has the same light-purple background design; German text purple ink at the top and bottom; the numerical denomination 50 in upper corners; and the serial number in the lower center.
Subjects
- Jewish ghettos--Poland--Łódź--Economic aspects.
- Jews--Persecutions--Poland.
- Holocaust survivors--Poland.
- Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)--Poland.
Genre
- Object
- Exchange Media